MORE than 30 people with physical and mental disabilities face losing their homes after claims that the council failed to pay their care bill.

Health workers at Independent Living, which arranges accommodation for disabled people, said Wirral council owes them around #2m.

They said the debt had left them no choice but to evict their tenants, many of whom need round-the-clock support.

Five people with handicaps ranging from blindness to mental disorders have already been given notice to quit their flats.

Health experts said the move could be life threatening for some of them and the company is now appointing lawyers to take legal action against the council.

Independent Living consultant Russell Canner said: "Our clients' housing benefits have been under assessment for five years. In that time we have only received interim payments from the council but have had to foot the rest of the bill ourselves. Fifteen clients have now been told they will not get housing benefit and no decision has been made about the others.

"We are losing around #200,000 a year in costs that are not being paid and are now owed around #2m.

"We have had no choice but to give the tenants notice. Some of these people have extreme care needs which are met here with 24 hour support but they aren't being paid for and we just can't go on."

Independent Living offers accommodation at Salisbury House, Rock Ferry, Carrigeen in Oxton and Talbot House in Oxton at a cost of up to #750 per person per week.

Dave Fidler, an independent healthcare consultant representing the families, said: "All residents have reached a level of stability in their lives that they have not had before.

"I have a real concern about the degree of risk they will be placed in should they have to leave this care."

A spokesman for Wirral council said: "We have acted at all times in the interests of tenants and families concerned.

"Social services is carrying out reviews and reassessments for all tenants so current levels of need can be met.

"We have already had a series of meetings with carers and tenants and these will continue.

"However, we have a responsibility to the tax payers to ensure all benefit is appropriately and lawfully paid."

Mother fears for son's future > > >>

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JOAN Smethurst knows her son Andrew Griffiths could not cope living alone.

The 41-year-old from West Kirby has been in and out of psychiatric wards for most of his life.

With the help of staff from Independent Living, Andrew has managed to live alone in Salisbury House for five years.

Ms Smethurst, 67, who teaches piano, said: "Salisbury House has been a fantastic place for Andrew. He has so many complex needs that he is impossible to live with. He needs access to this 24 hour care. He was diagnosed with an illness similar to schizophrenia a few years ago. But he has been in pyschiatric hospitals from a young age.

"We have never been able to cope with him at home. He gets violent and I am terrified at what might happen when he gets evicted.

"It is devastating. I can't understand why he is not eligible for funding and how an assessment could have taken so long. He has been there for five years. I don't know how this has been allowed to happen."